“If you took the name and the face away from all my accomplishments and you’re just like, ‘This is what this Player A accomplished at 26,’ people would talk about me a lot differently,” Jayson Tatum recently shared. His comment revealed that the Boston superstar feels he’s underappreciated by the basketball community. But two of the most knowledgeable voices in the game have now intervened to give Jayson his props. One of them is his head coach, Joe Mazzulla, but the other will probably surprise you.

The Celtics coach said that a highly motivated person like Jayson Tatum didn’t really need the validation of others. “I think he is a very highly intrinsically motivated person that has the opportunity to do great things individually and as a team,” explained Mazzulla.

He then praised Tatum, opining that big things were in store for him moving forward. “So I think he wakes up every day with that motivation and that opportunity. To be 27 and have the career that he’s had with also the opportunity god willing that he has going forward. He has an understanding of where he can get to. And where he can help the team get to.”

It’s natural that Tatum’s head coach, someone who knows his game better than most, would say this. After all, they brought the NBA championship back to Boston after a 16-year drought. During that season, Tatum’s partnership with Jaylen Brown proved instrumental in clinching the title for the Celtics. While Brown became the Finals MVP for his efforts, Jayson averaging 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 7.2 assists went largely unnoticed by most. In fact, the “We did it!” meme gained more traction at the time instead of Tatum’s performances.

Perhaps Jayson has a point about being underappreciated by the basketball community. However, we know now at least his coach gets how good he is. But as we said, another distinguished voice in the sport appreciated Tatum following his comments. Well, that person is Toronto Raptors head coach, Darko Rajakovic.

Darko Rajakovic thinks “best player” Jayson Tatum deserves more credit

Toronto Raptors Coach Rajakovic is no stranger to the abilities of Jayson Tatum. Just recently, Tatum put up a double-double to help the Celtics vanquish the Raptors. So, following Jayson’s comments, Rajakovic revealed his true feelings about the Boston Celtics star. And his class showed in the way he spoke about a player on a rival team.

“That guy [Tatum] is the best player on the best team in the NBA. And I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he does on both ends of the floor…They’re [Celtics] really lucky to have a guy like him. Amazing player. I’m a really, really, big fan of his,” said Rajakovic per NBA beat reporter Josh Lewenberg.

Rajakovic and his squad have a 1-9 record against the Celtics in their last 10 meetings. And Jayson Tatum contributed massively to the Celtics’ efforts, averaging 20.8 points and 8.1 defensive rebounds in those games. So clearly, Rajakovic knows just how lethal Tatum can be on both offense and defense. The Celtics forward will probably appreciate the kind words from the Raptors coach.

However, the fact that Jayson Tatum is underappreciated by the NBA community has not changed despite these comments from Mazzulla and Rajakovic. His off-court antics are subject to incessant trolling online. So much so that it sometimes detracts from his showings on the court. Even so, through his displays for the Boston Celtics, JT continues to prove why he’s among the best players in the league and a future Hall of Famer!